Issue #34: March 2025

Hello, IA enthusiasts!

World IA Day 2025 happened earlier this month on March 8th. This year’s 14th edition brought together communities in 23 different locations around the world. We also shared Andrea Resmini’s global keynote on YouTube and Vimeo.

As a follow up to Andrea’s keynote presentation, we’re hosting the WIAD25 Global Keynote Q&A Panel on April 14th. You’ll find more info in the newsletter.

In this newsletter, you’ll also find some great reading tips, upcoming online events, and resources in our community.

Keep reading!

Warm regards,

Grace Lau & Xander Roozen

Co-President team, WIAA


Join Us: "Everything Flows" Panel Discussion with Andrea Resmini

Monday, 14 April 2025 | 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Eastern

Continue the conversation from Andrea Resmini's thought-provoking WIAD 2025 Global Keynote! Join us for a dynamic panel discussion exploring how Information Architecture is evolving beyond websites into the blended physical-digital spaces where we live and work.

Hear perspectives from diverse IA practitioners as they discuss making complex systems clear in an AI-driven world and reshaping IA practice for tomorrow's challenges. Moderated by Nate Davis, this 90-minute virtual event includes audience Q&A.

In this issue:

  • Book feature

  • World IA Café events

  • Taxonomy Talk talks

  • Resources and development in the community

  • From community partners


Book feature

Weinberger, David. Everyday Chaos: Technology, Complexity, and How We’re Thriving in a New World of Possibility. Harvard Business Review Press, 2019. https://everydaychaosbook.com/arrow-up-right.

Building on his earlier work in "Everything Is Miscellaneous," David Weinberger reinforces that information naturally resists clean categorization because everything is connected in multiple, complex ways. For information architects, the book encourages a shift from trying to perfectly predict and control information flows to creating resilient, adaptable systems that can thrive amid complexity and change.

WIAA events

World IA Café conversations

In March, our regular World IA Café session is being replaced by the special "Everything Flows" Panel Discussion with Andrea Resmini (14 April) as a follow-up to the WIAD 2025 Global Keynote.

Our monthly Café conversations will resume in the coming months.

Taxonomy Talk talks

Speaker card showing the talk title "Taxonomies in Content Graphs" by Ian Piperarrow-up-right

Taxonomies in Content Graphs: The importance of taxonomies in building graphs by Ian Piperarrow-up-right 25 April 2025 Piper will share how SKOS taxonomies serve as the essential "semantic glue" in content graphs, solving the challenge of disconnected content assets. Through taxonomies, information professionals can enhance content findability, relationships, and business value in graph environments. This session delivers techniques for content design, a real-world taxonomy development case study, and entity extraction methods to connect content with concepts.

We're looking for a Community Moderator! Help shape the future of Taxonomy Talk by becoming our community moderator. This volunteer role involves facilitating discussions, coordinating speakers, and helping grow our taxonomy community. Applyarrow-up-right or email [email protected]envelope for more information.

Apply


Resources and Development in the Community

Since our last newsletter, we have been saddened to learn of the passing of Vicky Teinaki. Her work on "A plea for the lost practice of information architecturearrow-up-right" which we shared last month and her many contributions to service design remain valuable to our community. We extend our condolences to their family, friends, and colleagues. Those who wish to learn more about Vicky's life and legacy can visit their tribute page.

Here are 4 tips and resources we’ve come across that might inspire you in your work with information architecture and content strategy. We hope you find them helpful!

Stephen discusses the Scottish Government's exploration of object-oriented user experience (OOUX) to achieve better information structuring, drawing parallels with how humans learn through objects and the success of object-oriented interfaces. This human-centred approach, aligning with fundamental cognition and proven UI patterns, offers a user-centric way to organize digital content for more intuitive and effective systems. Applying object-oriented UX principles to information architecture can lead to better information structuring.


From our Community Partners

The Information Architecture Conference will be in Philadelphia! Connect with IA leaders, practitioners, and thinkers for workshops, talks, karaoke and polar bear walks. Registration is now open—Workshop and registration is open until April 29. Register with "FRIEND50" for USD 50 off.

As 2025 continues, it’s clear that artificial intelligence (AI) has become more than just another buzzword. It’s reshaping the landscape of user experience (UX) design. In fact, there are many exciting opportunities arising in the UX field because of advancements made with AI. But how do we navigate this shift toward an AI-oriented future while also being mindful of its shortcomings?

Abby Covert offers a fresh perspective, moving beyond traditional metrics to help you understand if your work is truly helping people make better sense of things3 . This guide breaks down what measurement in sensemaking really means, emphasizing the importance of tracking both what you can count and what you can observe


The World Information Architecture Digest is a monthly global newsletter featuring Information Architecture perspectives and resources for learning and professional development, as well as general news about the association behind World IA Day.

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